An overview of visualization: its use and design: report of the working group in visualization

This paper presents an overview of visualization in Computer Science instruction. It is broken down in the following fashion. First, we present the motivation for using visualization and visual techniques in instruction. This is followed by a discussion of when the use of visualization is most appropriate. We then consider a broad spectrum of uses of visualization in Computer Science instruction. This spectrum is organized from passive to active in terms of a student’s involvement with the visualization tools. Types of visualizations are then categorized. The remainder of the paper focuses more on design issues for instructional visualization tools. These design issues are first presented from the perspective of the instructor who is constructing the visualization tool for students and then from the perspective of the programmer who is creating visualization software. We close the paper with some suggestions on organizing and maintaining a Web-based repository of visualization tools for Computer Science instruction.